


For the First Time in Too Long

by zestycheck (breathingfire)



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, POV Second Person, Present Tense, barry is there for like half a second but he is there so..., both of them are Very New to me so I apologize if it feels weird to read, spoilers for episode 68, taakitz reunion rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-11 02:49:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11705235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breathingfire/pseuds/zestycheck
Summary: You stagger as you are suddenly ripped from one plane to another. You fall to your knees as you take in your surroundings. A spectral city with the ground made of… sapphire. You get to your feet and turn around and there he is, standing on the edge of the ghost city, on the edge of the sapphire circle - Taako.You've never been so happy to see someone in your entire existence.--episode 68 reunion scene from Krav's pov.





	For the First Time in Too Long

**Author's Note:**

> guess who was also inspired by the latest ep?
> 
> this is literally just the same scene from the podcast but from krav's pov. mostly an excuse to talk about headcanons about their interaction
> 
> took the dialogue from tazscripts, but edited in a couple places to make it easier to read
> 
> i kinda go off-script at the end there but sue me

You stagger as you are suddenly ripped from one plane to another. You fall to your knees as you take in your surroundings. A spectral city with the ground made of… sapphire. You get to your feet and turn around and there he is, standing on the edge of the ghost city, on the edge of the sapphire circle - Taako.

You've never been so happy to see someone in your entire existence.

Almost unconsciously you ask, “How… how did you do that?” As soon as your eyes meet he is sprinting towards you; you panic a bit as you realize he is coming to kiss you, and you start huffing into your hands. He manages to stop just a couple feet in front of you, skidding a bit on the sapphire but quickly regaining his composure. He raises a single eyebrow at you, and you stutter, “Hold on I- I wanna- I wanna warm up my face. I don’t want it to be cold and weird.”

He rolls his eyes but grins, pulls your hands away from your face and kisses you for the first time in too long. Gods, you missed his warmth, his smile. You missed _him,_ and that was only compounded by the story you experienced while alone in the Eternal Stockade.

Your heart feels full to bursting.

He pulls away, just enough to look you up and down. “I mean, long story short it was- I was rad, natch. But how do you still look this good? You’ve been locked in like mud or tar or something in the Astral Plane, you look fantastic!”

You laugh. _Of course_ this is what he brings up. So you take a page from his book. “It’s a lot of work to look this good.” You wink. He chuckles a bit at that, and you couldn't keep the smile off your face if you tried.

“I- Taako, I was trying to get out to get a message to you. I thought- I thought you were gone. I thought everything was gone.” The overwhelming fear you felt while in the Astral was completely overshadowed by this moment, however.

He hesitates a second before responding. “Well, you’re not that far off. But you’re right, there has been a terrible loss that you should know about.”

You immediately panic. Terrible loss? What... Who...

You feel a long-term spell end, the sensation of magic you didn't notice before leave the air.

“So, I just wanted to be honest. I’m- I didn’t wanna catfish you or anything.” He pauses for a moment. “This is Taako today. I had a bad run-in while I was saving the world again, and this is what I really look like. And I just wanted you to know that in case this changes anything for you, personally. I thought you should know, now.”

And you look at him, really study him. There are dark circles under his eyes, and the freckles that dust his cheeks aren't as perfect anymore, perhaps. His lips are less full and his cheeks sag a bit. But if you weren't searching for those differences, you honestly wouldn't have noticed.

Does he… does he honestly think you only love him for his natural beauty?

“Taako, I… I was crazy about you _before_ some weird light told me a story about your one hundred year journey through existence where you were fighting for so long to save the world.” You gently cup his cheeks and stare into his eyes, really trying to impress upon him the reality of the situation. “I love you, Taako, and at this point, I think that everyone in reality is going to love you after hearing your story, and... _nothing’s_ gonna change that.” Your voice might have cracked on that “nothing”, but you dropped the “unflappable grim reaper” schtick in front of him a long time ago.

He stares at you for a moment, then smirks. “That was actually a test, your face is a skull half the time, so yeah, no fucking kidding. Okay, anyway.” He tries to play it cool, but even in the low light you can tell he is bright red, from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. And that's so fuckin’ _cute_.

There is an explosion in the distance, and you suddenly remember your exact situation - in the middle of a battlefield in the godsdamn apocalypse.

The nerd whines about something, and Taako makes what is most likely a hilarious quip, but you weren't paying attention. You're trying to memorize his face, his voice, his laugh. Just in case.

The thundering footsteps are enough to make you pay attention, however. Just a stone's throw away is about the biggest creature you've ever seen, composed of the same shimmering black opal as all the rest. Someone shouts, “I don't know how to kill that!” But you already know the answer. You step in front of Taako, arms held out, and slowly start to back away from the giant, away from the center of the disc.

“Well, I think I know some folks who can help,” you say. You turn your head a bit to address Taako, but you keep your eyes trained on the giant and continue backing up, keeping yourself between him and the monster. “You remember those wayward souls I’ve been imprisoning? Well, uh, I’m giving them some time off for good behavior.” That's a pretty badass line, you think.

And right on cue, the mass of incarcerated souls pulls itself through the portal and launches itself at the giant. It wasn't easy convincing them to help, but most were swayed just to stop the end of everything.

… And you might've had to promise them reduced sentences. But that will all be figured out later.

Finally, you turn back to Taako, a smile on your face again. You take him in your arms again and pull him close. “I need to keep an eye on them, Taako, and I need to shepherd this world’s dead but it’s -” you laugh, “- it’s so fuckin’ good to see your face again. When I was over there, I just… I thought about you constantly.” You brush a bit of loose hair behind his ear.

Taako smiles a little, a bit embarrassed, and looks away. “Um, I mean me too pretty much, except the world’s ending. So kind of like half and half, but still, free thought time was definitely devoted your way.” He looks you in the eyes again and grins and you swear you can feel your dead heart thud in your chest. “We will hook up after this, no doubt. Let’s go ahead and save, everybody, pretty much, and then we’ll move on to that. Does that sound good to you?”

And you have no idea how to articulate how good that sounds to you without making a complete fool of yourself, so you settle for kissing his forehead.

Suddenly, the sick feeling of something being _off_ is too much to ignore. It is _definitely_ something powerful and undead, and you wonder how this day could get any worse.

Your flesh evaporates from your body, but before you can do anything, you're interrupted by Taako.  
“Oh, wait, shit!” He says, grabbing your arm. “One thing before you go. This is my sister.” He motions behind him to - oh gods that is definitely a lich.

She floats closer and fucking waves. “What’s up, Ghost Rider?” A human man walks up behind her and also waves awkwardly.

Well. At least she's lucid. You wave back, clutching your scythe, then lean close to Taako, hand blocking their view of your face. “You… you know we’re gonna have to talk about the fact that your sister’s a lich, right?”

He sighs. “Yeah, I assumed.”

You step back. “Let’s figure it out after we save the world.”

He nods. “Deal.”

You know you really need to leave now, but… “Kiss for good luck?”

He grins. “Of course.” He presses his lips to your jawbone and your heart swells again.

You step further back, before you do anything else to delay your responsibilities. “See you later, Taako.” And because you suddenly feel the need to say it again, “I love you.”

“Adiós,” he says, wiggling his fingers. Half a second later, he casts Message, and whispers, “Love you too, babe.”

You fly away before the urge to kiss him again overwhelms you.

It's only when you've caught up with Legion that you realize how dumb you just were. Your breath is as cold as the rest of you! Covering your mouth as if they can read lips that didn't exist! But you decide that all doesn't matter. You focus instead on that melodious laugh and the _“love you too, babe”_ and the feeling of his lips against yours and you know everything will turn out alright.

**Author's Note:**

> tbh this scene was more than i could've ever hoped for
> 
> also again sorry if this is awkward as second person, i tried lol
> 
>    
> feel free to follow my taz tumblr [@zestycheck](https://zestycheck.tumblr.com)


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